The invention relates generally to chocolate-coated beverage containers, and more particularly, to chocolate-coated beverage containers in which the chocolate can be removed with ease by the consumer.
Beverage containers can be coated with chocolate to allow for a novel and appealing product in which the chocolate and the beverage in the container can be enjoyed simultaneously and conveniently. Prior methods for coating beverage containers with a layer of chocolate involved wrapping the container with commercially available standard plastic food wrap, by placing the wrap on the container in a spiral and tapering the wrap off at the top. One disadvantage of this method has been that the thin, low-gauge plastic of which the food wrap is composed can stretch and tear as the chocolate coating is removed. This can cause the chocolate coating to spray from the container, creating an untidy and aesthetically unpleasing situation, and making consumption of the chocolate more difficult.
One attempt to rectify this problem has been to use a cylindrically-shaped plastic sleeve, with a serration extending down along the length of the cylinder. This sleeve has no plastic area to cover the base of the container; to seal off the base of the container, a suitably-sized piece of tape is applied. Making such a chocolate-coated beverage container is labor-and time-intensive, and it requires additional sections of plastic, leading to increased cost. Also, the tape sections can sometimes disengage while the container is being dipped in chocolate, leading to delay and possible interference with equipment.
There remains a need for a chocolate-coated beverage container that can be produced in an efficient manner, and that allows for easy removal of the chocolate coating. The present invention fulfills this need and provides further related advantages.